European Championship of Champions 2021 – Malta and The Netherlands strike Gold

25 October 2021 – 1 November in Chania, Crete

The first edition of the ECC was conducted in 1979 in s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands and named the European Cup Individuals with 14 federations taking part. Finland have won the most Golds in the mens division with 9 and Sweden have won the most Golds in the womens with 8. The also have the most medals at 46 overall.

Each ETBF member federation may enter the reigning national woman and man champion, or no. 2 or no. 3 etc. In addition the ECC champions of previous year are automatically qualified for participation.

Chania, Crete host the 2021 edition and 30 European federations taking part.

Romeo’s perfect start

We got underway on Wednesday with the first mens eight game block and right away Romanian Romeo Gagenoiu fired the first perfect 300 game in the very first game. It was a sign of the things to come as he continued on to lead by quite a bit at the end with 1915 and ahead of second placed Nicola Pongolini from Italy with 1829. Third was Dutchman Mike Bergmann with 1813 and a pin in front of fourth paced Gaetan Mouveroux from France with 1812.

The afternoon saw the women on the lanes and just two players breaking the 1700 barrier with Denmark’s Mika Guldaek leading with 1758 and Dutch star Nicole Sanders in second with 1703. Taking up third was Norway’s Andrea Hansen with 1696 and fourth was Sweden’s Victoria Johansson with 1683.

Chasing pack close in

Day two and the second squad of men for block one and the race to the finals. New entries in the top four included Israel’s Oren Cohen with 1893 and second overall behind Romania’s Romeo Gagenoiu. Into third went Sweden’s Mattias Wetterburg with 1834 and five pins ahead of Italy’s Nicola Pongolini in fourth.

Danish Delight

Despite placing second in the second block for the women, Denmark’s Mika Guldbaek held her lead at the top with 1755 for the block and 3513. Nicole Sanders from the Netherland’s was the one to lead the squad with 1769 and held second place overall with 3472. Into third overall was Sweden’s Victoria Johansson with 3275 and fourth was Norway’s Andrea Jansen with 3259. Safe inside the cut included Malta, Czech Republic, Russia, Slovenia, France, Austria, SPain, Latvia, Greece, Finland, Romania and Poland..

Here comes Sweden

Onto the second block on Friday and the first of two squads saw Sweden rise to the top after 16 games as Mattias Wetterberg hit 1898 and 3732 posted for all to chase. Second was Norway’s Jonas Dammen with 3595 and third going to Lithuania’s Laurynas Narusis with 3591. One more squad later would decide the top 16 to advance.

300 time

The chasing pack in the second squad threw a few fire fireworks as they closed in on the lead after 16 games. Leading that chase was Norway’s Glenn Morten Pedersen who fires a perfect game on the way to 2014 and up to 6th overall. Blasting in to win qualifying was Italian Nicola Pongolini who also rolled 300 and hit 3783 to push Swede Mattias Wetterberg into second on 3732 as Gaeton Mouveroux was third with 3684 and fourth was Dutchman Mike Bergman. Also inside the top 16 cut were Romania, Norway, Lithuania, Iceland, Isreal, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Germany and Denmark.

Final Step 1 – The Netherlands and Sweden head the fields

Finals time and the eight game race to the top 8 saw Dutch Star Nicole Sanders out in front with 1795 and 5267 overall. Second was Denmark’s Mika Guldbaek with 5166 and third was Sweden’s Victoria Johansson with 5027. Safely inside the cut were Malta, Norway, Russia, Austria and Slovenia.

For the men it was Mattias Wetterberg leading the way with 1891 and 5623 overall. Second was Italy’s Nicola Pongolini with 5528 and third was The Netherlands Mike Bergmann with 5430. Inside the top 8 were Lithuania, Finland, Norway, Iceland and France.

Final Step 2 – Top fours almost found

No changes to the top four after another four games in the final step 2 as Nicole Sanders continued to lead as Denmark’s Mika Guldbaelk was second, Victoria Johansson from Sweden third and taking the final spot was Malta’s Sue Abela.

No major changes in the top four again in the mens and Swededn’s Mattias Wetterberg tops with 6587 followed by The Netherlands Mike Bergmann in second, Italy’s Nicola Pongolini in third and Norway’s Glenn Moreten Pedersen in fourth.

Semi Finals

Down to the last fours and soone to be last two in each division and it was Malta and Denmark celebrating Sue Abela went past Nicole Sanders 2-1 and Mika Guldbaek brushed aside Victoria Johansson 2-0 including a 279.

For the men it was The Netherlands and Sweden celebrating as Mike Bergmann finally won out against Nicola Pongolini 2-1 with a tied last game and 10-7 rolloff win. Mattias Wetterberg joining Mike in the final beating Glenn Moreten Pedersen 2-1.

Finals

Malta is only a small island but boy can they produce good players, not just good but great in the case of Sue Abela. Going a game down to Denmark’s Mika Gulbaek, the Queen of the Mediterranean as she is known fought back to level the match in a tight game 186-182 then dug deeper as both bowlers struggled to strike and recorded a famous win for the Island 182-169. She last won this went way back in 1999 and all these years later, just as good.

The men’s final was equally as epic as it went one way then the other. This time Dutch Star Mike Bergmann won the first and lost the second in a tight fought match. Into the last game the Dutchman managed to pull away at the end for a 2-1 win and Gold to the Netherlands.

Results

Results will appear first on the Official website here

Women

Final

Seeding Lane Name Fed G1   G2   G3   Point

 

2 9 Mika Guldbaek DEN 225   182   169   1
4 10 Sue Abela MLT 188   186   182   2

Smi Final

Seeding Lane Name Fed G1   G2   G3   Point

 

2 11 Mika Guldbaek DEN 279   230   0   2
3 12 Victoria Johansson SWE 236   224   0   0

 

1 14 Nicole Sanders NED 247   202   175   1
4 13 Sue Abela MLT 197   248   225  

Final Step 2

Pos  Name Federation Qual G1 G2 G3 G4 Step 2 Total Diff
Nicole Sanders Netherlands 5267 280 203 234 269 986 6253 +460
Mika Guldbaek Denmark 5166 235 231 194 189 849 6015 +222
Victoria Johansson Sweden 5027 217 203 237 236 893 5920 +127
Sue Abela Malta 4992 210 197 170 224 801 5793 0

Andrea E Hansen Norway 4917 227 168 195 196 786 5703 -90
Tamara Adler Austria 4723 246 185 185 230 846 5569 -224
Maria Koshel Russia 4849 182 208 118 212 720 5569 -224
Alja Bergauer Slovenia 4719 154 150 182 197 683 5402 -391

Final Step 1

Qualifying

Pos  Athlete Federation Block 1 Block 2 Total Diff AVG Games
Mika Guldbaek Denmark 1758 1755 3513 +599 219,6 16/16
Nicole Sanders Netherlands 1703 1769 3472 +558 217 16/16
Victoria Johansson Sweden 1683 1592 3275 +361 204,7 16/16
Andrea E Hansen Norway 1696 1563 3259 +345 203,7 16/16
Sue Abela Malta 1583 1662 3245 +331 202,8 16/16
Petra Otec Hanzlovska Czech Republic 1524 1628 3152 +238 197 16/16
Maria Koshel Russia 1484 1658 3142 +228 196,4 16/16
Alja Bergauer Slovenia 1497 1631 3128 +214 195,5 16/16
Marilyn Planchard France 1529 1581 3110 +196 194,4 16/16
10  Tamara Adler Austria 1480 1599 3079 +165 192,4 16/16
11  Ingrid Julia Spain 1451 1576 3027 +113 189,2 16/16
12  Veronika Hudiakova Latvia 1644 1366 3010 +96 188,1 16/16
13  Tania Michailidou Greece 1525 1448 2973 +59 185,8 16/16
14  Eliisa Hiltunen Finland 1476 1490 2966 +52 185,4 16/16
15  Florentina Naghi Romania 1530 1390 2920 +6 182,5 16/16
16  Zulfia Saetgareeva Misztal Poland 1568 1346 2914 0 182,1 16/16

17  Kristina Vlkovicova Slovakia 1401 1506 2907 -7 181,7 16/16
18  Monica Di Paolantonio Italy 1407 1421 2828 -86 176,8 16/16
19  Ebru Ozogluuntur Turkey 1379 1443 2822 -92 176,4 16/16
20  Daiva Perminiene Lithuania 1422 1400 2822 -92 176,4 16/16
21  Niki Schiza Cyprus 1410 1410 2820 -94 176,2 16/16
22  Oleksandra Levchuk Ukraine 1436 1332 2768 -146 173 16/16
23  Hana Duanis Israel 1376 1318 2694 -220 168,4 16/16
24  Marina Stefanova Bulgaria 1413 1262 2675 -239 167,2 16/16
25  Andrea Abrok Hungary 1295 1346 2641 -273 165,1 16/16
26  Ines Kuba Germany 1335 1281 2616 -298 163,5 16/16

Men

Final

Seeding Lane Name Fed G1   G2   G3   Point

 

1 7 Mattias Wetterberg SWE 225   213   180   1
2 8 Mike Bergmann NED 247   204   225   2

Semi Final

Seeding Lane Name Fed G1   G2   G3 G3 Tie Point

 

2 4 Mike Bergmann NED 267   226   193 10 2
3 3 Nicola Pongolini ITA 212   259   193 7 1

 

1 5 Mattias Wetterberg SWE 227   238   236   2
4 6 Glenn Morten Pedersen NOR 224   279   223   1

Final Step 2

Pos  Name Federation Qual G1 G2 G3 G4 Step 2 Total Diff
Mattias Wetterberg Sweden 5623 227 248 222 267 964 6587 +227
Mike Bergmann Netherlands 5430 248 236 279 279 1042 6472 +112
Nicola Pongolini Italy 5528 212 235 236 236 919 6447 +87
Glenn Morten Pedersen Norway 5400 259 279 205 217 960 6360 0

Gunnar Thor Asgeirsson Iceland 5390 237 205 268 233 943 6333 -27
Juho Rissanen Finland 5424 215 244 237 213 909 6333 -27
Gaetan Mouveroux France 5360 235 235 258 216 944 6304 -56
Laurynas Narusis Lithuania 5427 195 201 220 204 820 6247 -113

Final Step 1

Qualifying

Pos  Athlete Federation Block 1 Block 2 Total Diff AVG Games
Nicola Pongolini Italy 1829 1954 3783 +412 236,4 16/16
Mattias Wetterberg Sweden 1834 1898 3732 +361 233,2 16/16
Gaetan Mouveroux France 1812 1872 3684 +313 230,2 16/16
Mike Bergmann Netherlands 1813 1845 3658 +287 228,6 16/16
Romeo Gagenoiu Romania 1915 1733 3648 +277 228 16/16
Glenn Morten Pedersen Defending Champion Norway 1611 2014 3625 +254 226,6 16/16
Jonas Dammen Norway 1722 1873 3595 +224 224,7 16/16
Laurynas Narusis Lithuania 1775 1816 3591 +220 224,4 16/16
Gunnar Thor Asgeirsson Iceland 1754 1834 3588 +217 224,2 16/16
10  Oron Cohen Israel 1893 1676 3569 +198 223,1 16/16
11  Juho Rissanen Finland 1728 1830 3558 +187 222,4 16/16
12  Artemii Zubkov Russia 1701 1791 3492 +121 218,2 16/16
13  Vladyslav Prysiazhnyi Ukraine 1672 1807 3479 +108 217,4 16/16
14  Jaroslav Uher Czech Republic 1734 1699 3433 +62 214,6 16/16
15  Andreas Hernitschek Germany 1653 1746 3399 +28 212,4 16/16
16  Patrik Sörensen Denmark 1726 1645 3371 0 210,7 16/16

17  Michal Jakobei Slovakia 1630 1729 3359 -12 209,9 16/16
18  Plamen Stanchev Bulgaria 1658 1675 3333 -38 208,3 16/16
19  Artemy Hudiakov Latvia 1633 1694 3327 -44 207,9 16/16
20  Vaggelis Krizinis Greece 1574 1727 3301 -70 206,3 16/16
21  Taygun Erkeskin Turkey 1685 1604 3289 -82 205,6 16/16
22  Mauro Anastasi Malta 1639 1603 3242 -129 202,6 16/16
23  Ettore Bacciocchi San Marino 1511 1718 3229 -142 201,8 16/16
24  Jakob Marcel Del Piero Slovenia 1614 1599 3213 -158 200,8 16/16
25  Raul Jimenez Spain 1533 1630 3163 -208 197,7 16/16
26  Kyriakos Konstantinou Cyprus 1620 1512 3132 -239 195,8 16/16
27  Pavel Sobolev Belarus 1516 1514 3030 -341 189,4 16/16
28  Janusz Pietraszek Poland 1402 1469 2871 -500 179,4 16/16
29  Alexander Rauscher Austria 1428 1408 2836 -535 177,2 16/16
30  Zsolt Radvanszki Hungary 1358 1432 2790 -581 174,4 16/16